A Way with Words

By Charlene Cowley

As I write this month's column, I am fully aware in my mind that not everyone will be as excited and enthralled with the World Cup 2018 as I am! So I will begin with a promise, I promise to you my readers not to babble on too much about football per se and I promise that my column will have a point by the end of it so bear with me.

Now it is very safe to say that I am not sporty at all whatsoever! My main memories of PE (Physical Education) at school consist of me handing over many hand written letters with a badly forged signature explaining why I should be excused from PE yet again and me hiding out in the school library for the duration of the lesson until the bell rang. But give me a television and a football match, that I can do. I will happily sit there observing the game and giving my opinion on the players tactics and the manager’s poor management skills.

So the World Cup! (There, I’ve said it again, I'm sorry!) This has been the focus in our house over the last three weeks. I have every game highlighted in our TV guide so we don't miss a game and my World Cup Results Chart is proudly displayed on our fridge. I just love how so many people from so many different backgrounds and walks of life can all come together (most of the time in harmony) for one mutual love and understanding- this humble sport. We have all heard the famous account of the Christmas ceasefire during World War 1. How opposing sides came together and embraced in a game of football. I’m sure you'll all agree when I say it was a truly magical and momentous moment in history. This is the power of football.

So going back to one of the earlier matches in the competition, I remember watching Portugal play their first game in the group's (against Spain) and I was immediately struck by the confidence and the calm, well composed demeanour of Cristiano Ronaldo. For those of you who are not into this sport so much and didn’t see the game, Ronaldo scored as a result of being given a penalty in the fourth minute, he then went on to score again (from a free kick taken at the 20 yard line). Even though Portugal didn't win this match against Spain (they drew 3-3) Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (a total of three goals in one match).

This leads me nicely onto what I want to write about this month, as I watched that game and in particular Ronaldo, I couldn't quite work out how on earth he was able to keep his calm. I kept thinking how much pressure he must be feeling right now, with millions of people around the world all watching him and all expecting great spectacular things from him! In those seconds leading up to him taking the penalty and his free kick, I couldn't help but think about what may be on his mind. What possibly does one say to oneself under those circumstances? I personally don’t think I could handle that sort of pressure at all. Then I realised something … Cristiano Ronaldo believes in himself! He doesn't doubt even for a second his ability, he trusts in his own knowledge of the game and in his own incredible skills. There is no self-procrastination, no self criticism and absolutely no doubt at all! He trusts in what he can achieve and he truly believes and knows he can do it!

So what can we take from this? We don’t have to be fantastic football experts (or an expert of any sport for that matter) to learn a thing or two from this brilliant and very inspirational public figure. When he is under pressure and expectations are high he thrives. So why can't we? We simply need to start believing we can do it! And trust me, I am one of the world's biggest self-procrastinators, I find faults in almost everything I do and talk myself down and out of doing a lot of things. Purely because I don't believe in myself and I don't trust I can. Think how many penalties and free kicks Ronaldo would miss if he thought in this way. He certainly wouldn't be where he is today with a self-destructing attitude like that.

So let us all make a pact now in preparation for the next time you are asked to do something that scares or intimidates you, that we will believe in ourselves and trust in how truly incredible we really are! Let's all be like Let's all be like Ronaldo! For only then, when we believe and know in our souls exactly what we are capable of, we will finally be able to fulfill our true destinies and achieve our highest dreams possible. For when we love ourselves unconditionally (and we believe in who we are and what we do!) … that is when true miracles will start to occur.

Wishing you all a beautiful month ahead, filled with long, warm glorious days. Take care, until next time …